The small size of this adapter makes it extremely portable and keeps it nicely flush with the USB port. However, the small antenna has trade-offs in terms of range and performance.

We recommend using with an access point or peer wifi adapter that is in the same room or nearby. The adapter works best with line of sight to the access point.

A laptop with built-in Wi-Fi antennas can cause interference and connection problems. We recommend to disable the internal Wi-Fi or to use a powered USB hub or cable to help get the nano adapter out of range of other signals.

Peer-to-Peer (Ad-Hoc) connections

Because of its small size, the adapter is especially useful for setting up a separate, peer-to-peer (ad hoc) connection between two wifi adapters. Search “ad hoc wifi setup” for details.

Driver Installation

For Windows 7, 8, and 10, if you have another active network connection, simply plug in the adapter and Windows will automatically download and install the latest drivers from Windows Update.

Once the driver is installed, use your operating system’s standard built-in support for making a new wireless connection to an access point.

Linux

This adapter and chipset has open source drivers with support for Linux Kernel 2.6.18 through 2.6.38(compile required). Driver is already in recent Linux kernel versions 2.6.39 and later (kernel option CONFIG_RTL8192CU). To download and build the latest driver from Realtek, extract the Linux driver file, and run “make && sudo make install”.

Android

Android 1.6~2.3 and 4.0 devices may or may not, at manufacturer’s discretion, include the Android driver from Realtek on their customized Android builds. We have not done any internal tests as of yet and cannot recommend this device for Android users at this time- although this may be a great option for Android developers familiar with compiling drivers into android source.

Raspberry Pi

Works well with all models of Raspberry Pi running the latest version of Raspbian. We highly recommend using it with a powered hub to ensure sufficient power. Insufficient power will cause the Pi to randomly reboot. See this blog post for information on setting it up.

FAQ

Q: The documentation from Realtek for the RTL8188CUS chipset indicates that the adapter is capable of 150mbps, and your Amazon listing indicates 150mbps, but I’m getting way less than that. Why is that?

A: Without getting into too many details, the 150mbps value represents the maximum “Link Rate” of the adapter, which essentially tells you what wireless specifications are being used for the adapter. Environmental factors such as surrounding radio interference, distance from your access point, and other issues will reduce the performance and possibly the link rate being achieved. 150mbps (18.75MB/s) is the theoretical maximum transmission speed that can be achieved providing all conditions are ideal, such as in a radio testing facility. For home and office use, there will always be factors that reduce performance.

If you are consistently seeing a link rate of 72mbps reported by your operating system, this is either due to a configuration error on the router you are connecting to, or because of limitations on the router. If the router’s 2.4GHz channels are set to use 20MHz widths, the link rate will never exceed 72mbps. To get the 150mbps link rate, the router must be using channels with 40MHz widths.